momtolgd Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 Trying to decide on a piano curriculum here. I have a very strong musical background, with ok piano skills. We don't have a piano though...we only have a keyboard. What are your thoughts on these? Thanks. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandra in va Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 The Alfred books are good courses. You might also want to look into the Faber and Faber books, which is a good series with interesting songs that my kids have enjoyed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melinda Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 Of all the piano books I have taught from, Alfred's are my favorite (this is what I learned on as well). They are easy to understand and concise, but there is plenty of enrichment material available for them. I also liked teaching from Bastien and John Thompson books, but Alfred's has always been #1 for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usetoschool Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 (edited) All of my kids have used Alfred books with good results. They liked the songs and there are tons of extra materials for each level and many ways to personalize the levels. My dd is using them now to teach piano. They are also readily available. My eldest dd is the most musical and used the Hanon scale books published by Alfred, in addition to the regular curriculum books. Edited February 25, 2009 by jcooperetc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 One of my dds is using the Alfred Prep books, the other is using a series by Bastien. Their teacher put them in two different series to prevent too much competition (the younger one had pretty much caught up with the older one, much to her consternation). I like them both. I think my older dd is doing better with the Bastien than she did with the Alfred, but that might just be that she's older now (10) and it's clicking better. Both publishers have a series for younger beginners 5-7 (Alfred Prep and Bastien Primer A and B), and a series for older beginners 7-11 (Alfred Basic and Bastien is Primer - I'm guessing that's equivalent to Primer A and B - then Level 1-4) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSDCY Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 I like these books. They are cute, colorful, clear, and engaging. My son, on the other hand, does not enjoy his piano lessons but I don't think it has anything to do with the books though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momtolgd Posted February 26, 2009 Author Share Posted February 26, 2009 Thank you all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricaB Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 I missed which kiddo you were looking to use this with, but we used Alfred's Music for Little Mozarts. I found it to be very well written and I was able to put it together quickly only to find that my son hated for me to play the duet parts. Oh well, it got my fingers back into shape. Oh, the theory lessons are done very well too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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